More and more clients are asking me to help them assess how ready their clients (usually businesses) are to engage with them via social media. This generally drives a research project. The answers are aften much more positive than clients expect.

Recently I was presenting at a major conference by Purina. What amazed me is how many retailers and distributors of horse, goat, and cattle feed were using Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch with their clients on the range.

If Web 2.0 social media is that penetrated into the farbric of America, so that it is now common "out on the range," I can think of few other businesses that would not benefit from its adoption for marketing, market research, or generally driving customer intimacy.